PLAYERS TO WATCH
–RB Darius Anderson is by far TCU’s most explosive and dependable playmaker but has tapered off some as his opportunities have been reduced throughout the season. He’s become the flash-and-dash runner to Sewo Olonilua’s grind-it-out option. Anderson will be leaned on even more now that the Horned Frogs have lost QB Shawn Robinson to a season-ending injury and WR KaVontae Turpin has been suspended from the team after his domestic violence arrest. Anderson carried 13 times for 48 yards and the game-deciding touchdown in TCU’s 14-13 win last week over Kansas State; he now has 536 yards and four touchdowns on 100 carries for the season.
–QB Michael Collins, a transfer from Penn, has taken the reins of the team after Shawn Robinson was forced from the loss to Oklahoma with a season-ending shoulder injury. Collins passed for 218 yards and a touchdown and ran for 22 more in the win over Kansas State.
–LB Ty Summers needs just 30 tackles to become the all-time tackling leader in the Gary Patterson era. He played quarterback in high school, so he has position flexibility, too, playing linebacker and defensive end. Summers ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash in the spring and has recorded a 36-inch vertical. He has 43 stops, 3.5 of them for them for a loss, two quarterback hurries and a sack through the first nine games. Summers did not play against Kansas State because of an undisclosed injury.
–DE Ben Banogu, a senior, made a huge splash in his first season with TCU. After transferring from Louisiana-Monroe and sitting out the 2016 season, he became one of the nation’s top defensive ends. Banogu was first in the Big 12 with 16.5 tackles for loss and was second with 8.5 sacks last year. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder was named Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year, First-Team All-Big 12, First-Team AP All-Big 12 and Honorable-Mention Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. He had five tackles, one of them for a loss and a fumble recovery in the win over Kansas State; Banogu now has 35 stops, a forced fumble that led to a TD return, a fumble return for score, another fumble recovery, five sacks and five quarterback hurries for the season.
SERIES HISTORY: TCU leads West Virginia 4-3.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It feels really good to get a win. October was a tough month and that wasn’t the best win, but a win is a win and we will take it. It felt really good in the locker room after. Our defense played really well, our offensive line played really well, the receivers made plays when they had to. In the end, it ended up being the difference.” — TCU quarterback Michael Collins after the win over Kansas State
